Shenzhen siblings fight over a 20 million yuan property. The younger brother holds two wills. Why did the older sister get nothing?

Last year, before Qingming, I received Ms. Chen, who had come from Nanshan, in my office at Room 1802, Tower A, Futian Xin Tian Shi Ji Business Center. Her father had passed away the previous month, leaving behind a house near Science Park with a market value of about 20 million yuan. Her mother had died years earlier, and there were only two children in the family, her and her younger brother. Her father had lived with her during his lifetime, and she had been the one managing his daily care and accompanying him to medical visits. Her brother worked in Longgang and came back once a month at most.

Ms. Chen said she has a handwritten will from her father dated 2021, stating the house goes to her. But her brother also produced one, said to be printed in 2023, with their father's signature and two witnesses, also stating the house goes to him. Two wills, one handwritten and one printed, two years apart. Her brother even threatened: the printed one is newer and legally more valid, so she should stop making a fuss.

But the matter did not end there. The younger brother kept the father's death certificate and a copy of the property deed in his possession, making it impossible for Ms. Chen to even apply for a notarized inheritance. She went to the real estate registration center three times, and the staff told her that any dispute had to be resolved first, otherwise the transfer could not be processed. Her brother had even started contacting agents to inquire about the price.

After she finished explaining, I asked three questions: What was your father's mental state like when he wrote the handwritten will? Is there any video or hospital documentation? What is the relationship between the two witnesses and your younger brother? Ms. Chen said her father was still in decent health in 2021 and could go downstairs for tea on his own, but there was no video recording. One witness was her younger brother's college classmate, and the other was a colleague at her younger brother's company.

The key information is out. Printed wills are explicitly stipulated in Article 1136 of the Civil Code: there must be two or more witnesses present, and the testator and the witnesses must sign each page and note the year, month, and day. Note, every page. The younger brother's printed will only has the father's and the witnesses' signatures on the last page, while the first two pages contain only printed text. This formal defect is sufficient in judicial practice to overturn the entire will.

Next, regarding the qualifications of witnesses. Article 1140 of the Civil Code clearly states: heirs, legatees, and persons with an interest in them cannot serve as witnesses. Although the younger brother's college classmates and colleagues are not directly heirs, they clearly have an interest connection with the younger brother. In a 2022 second-instance judgment in an inheritance dispute, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court held that a company colleague serving as a witness had a workplace subordinate relationship with the heir, belonged to the category of interested persons, and the witness was invalid.

After taking over the case, we did several things. First, we filed an inheritance dispute lawsuit with the Futian District People's Court and simultaneously applied for a formal review of the printed will held by my younger brother. Second, we obtained all of my father's medical records from 2021 to 2023 to prove that he was clear-headed and had full civil capacity when the will was made in 2021. Third, we applied to have my younger brother's two witnesses appear in court and questioned them during the hearing about their relationship with him, whether they were present throughout the day the will was made, and why the first two pages were not signed.

On the day of the trial, the witnesses' answers were contradictory. One said, "It seems like it was signed," while the other said, "I can't remember clearly." When the judge asked who had operated the computer to print the will, both said it had been prepared in advance by the younger brother. At this point, the validity of the younger brother's will was basically untenable.

The more crucial step involved another set of evidence provided by Ms. Chen. She dug up her father's WeChat chat records and bank statements from the two years after he made his will in 2021. In WeChat, her father had told an old colleague, "The house is left to Ah Nü; she has taken care of me the most." The bank statements showed that Ms. Chen had transferred 3,000 yuan to her father every month for living expenses, lasting more than four years. This evidence corroborated the contents of the handwritten will, forming a complete chain of evidence.

Last September, the Futian District People's Court issued a first-instance judgment: the printed will held by the younger brother was deemed invalid due to non-compliance with formal requirements and the interested relationship of the witnesses; the handwritten will held by Ms. Chen was authentic and valid, and the property in question was to be inherited entirely by Ms. Chen. The younger brother refused to accept the ruling and appealed, and the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court upheld the original judgment in January of this year. Ms. Chen ultimately obtained full inheritance rights to the property, which has a market value of 20 million yuan.

Some might ask, does a handwritten will necessarily have legal effect? Not necessarily. Article 1134 of the Civil Code stipulates that a self-written will must be written and signed by the testator in their own hand, and dated with the year, month, and day. The will of Ms. Chen's father was written entirely in his own hand, with a complete signature and date, so it passed the formal requirements. If someone else had written it at the time and he had only signed his name, the outcome could have been completely different.

Inheritance dispute cases in Shenzhen have indeed been rising in recent years, with an annual increase of about 15%, and more and more involve cross-border and cross-generational inheritance. In the family trial divisions of the courts in Futian, Nanshan, and Longhua districts, inheritance cases often have to wait two to three months for a hearing. Many family conflicts erupt in concentrated form after the elderly pass away - once a house becomes valuable, family ties often cannot withstand the test.

After finishing this case, I often think that if Ms. Chen's father had recorded a video when making his will back then, or had gone to a notary office to make a notarized will, all the trouble that followed might never have happened. Although notarized wills no longer have priority effect, their probative force in court is still very strong and can save a great deal of evidentiary costs. All district branches of the Shenzhen Notary Office can handle this, and the fees are not high.

One more thing: it's best to describe the assets clearly in the will. Ms. Chen's father wrote "the apartment in the Science Park" without including the property ownership certificate number. If her father owns multiple properties in Shenzhen, this wording could lead to disputes. Writing down the certificate number, address, and area clearly can close many loopholes.

If you're facing a similar situation—siblings can't agree on a property left by your parents, or you're holding a will but don't know how to use it—don't rush into a falling-out with your family, and don't delay waiting for the other side to make the first move. First, find a professional lawyer to review the will's form and the evidence. In many cases, a single flaw on a piece of paper can determine who a property belongs to. Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm has handled quite a few cases of this kind of inheritance dispute. Room 1802, Tower A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North 2nd Street, Futian District. Phone: 0755-25986969. If you need help, you can make an appointment to talk in person.